EAST BOSTON – The second-seeded Suffolk women's hockey team saw its inaugural season come to an early end as the seventh-seed Beacons of UMass Boston surprised the Rams with an early 2-1 lead it never let go of to defeat the blue-and-gold Saturday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Rink.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1 | UMass Boston 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (15-9-2) | UMass Boston (10-14-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
All the scoring came in the first frame. Kelsey Ryan got things going for UMass at the midway point of the opening period when she put away a power play goal at the 9:28 minute mark.
Less than two minutes laterTess Adams evened the playing field at 1-all with a man-up strike of her own. The senior received help from freshmanMadison Duff to make it a new game at the 11:05 minute mark.
The tied score did not hold long as Ryan found the back of the net for the second time on the night on a feed from Katie Leffler to push the Beacons ahead, 2-1, 2:09 after Adams scored.
UMass held onto the 2-1 lead for the remainder of the first period and neither team lit the lamp in the second as the one-goal advantage held for the visitors.
Suffolk looked for its comeback in the third, but Caty Flagg turned aside all eight attempts the Rams sent to her to lock up the postseason action for the Beacons.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Kristen Caporusso recorded 25 saves in the conference tournament contest.
- Flagg finished the night with 20 stops.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Adams was responsible for Suffolk's only goal.
- Duff recorded one point on one assist.
- UMass Boston outshot Suffolk, 27-21.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk competed in the NEHC postseason for the first time.